Foundation Performance of Very Old Structures

Withstanding the agents of destruction for several centuries, some of the structures in this world, exist as a testimony to the sound and perfected techniques of construction used in years that belong to the bygone past. Among the most famous are Taj Mahal and Qutb Minar, still standing in a magnificent and sound condition. One of the wonders of the world, Taj Mahal though built in seventeenth century still looks so fresh that the super-structure performance also speaks of the adequate and perfect foundation that must have been built for it. This paper deals with subsoil conditions at site, the type of foundation, its construction technique and its performance for a very long period for both Taj Mahal and Qutb Minar

The Lure of Tequila and the Bestowing of Motherly Love: Does it Matter Whether Public Cash Transfers are Given to Women or Men? Evidence from the PROGRESA and PROCAMPO Programs in Rural Mexico

This paper aims at evaluating the impact of two different cash transfer programs in rural Mexico - Procampo and Progresa - on total consumption, food consumption and other outcomes like investment, schooling and health care. Progresa is targeted to women, while Procampo goes to farmers, mostly men and many of which are poor. We show that both programs boost consumption. However, they obtain this effect through different channels. Progresa is destined to consumption expenditure directly, while Procampo, which is paid to landholders, boosts investments and needs time to produce its benefits. Furthermore, we separate program from gender effects and show that cash transfer programs targeted to men are beneficial only when the recipients own means of production. This suggest that policy makers should take into account the relationship between gender and ownership of assets when designing poverty reduction programs.gender effect, program effect, rural poverty, Labor and Human Capital,

Aplicação de estudos genéticos para uso e conservação de uma espécie tropical em risco de extinção: o pau-rosa (Aniba rosaeodora).

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivos avaliar a variabilidade genética existente entre e dentro de populações naturais através do uso de isoenzimas e estabelecer protocolo de micropropagação de Aniba rosaedora; para gerar subsídios na elaboração de estratégias de conservação e alternativas para a utilização racional da espécie.bitstream/item/89195/1/PA-12-Regina-Quinzen.pd

Selective Microdetermination of Uranium Using Weisz Ring Oven Technique: Application to an Indirect Determination of Trace Amounts of Arsenic in Tobacco

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A Bayesian approach for estimating the post-earthquake recovery trajectories of electric power systems in Japan

Post-disaster recovery modelling of engineering systems has become an important facet of catastrophe risk modelling and management for natural hazards. The post-disaster recovery trajectory of a civil infrastructure system can be quantified using (a) the initial post-disaster functionality level, Qo; (b) rapidity, h (i.e., the rate of functionality restoration); and (c) recovery time, Rt. This study uses a Bayesian estimation approach to derive a set of probabilistic models to estimate Qo, Rt, and h of electric power networks (EPNs) using post-earthquake recovery data from 16 large earthquakes in Japan between 2003 and 2022. The considered predictor (explanatory) variables include earthquake magnitude, year of occurrence, seismic intensity, and exposed population (PEX). Apart from being a simple and efficient stand-alone tool, the proposed data-driven models can be a useful benchmarking tool for simulation-based approaches for EPN recovery modelling

MCM8-9 complex promotes resection of double-strand break ends by MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 complex.

MCM8-9 complex is required for homologous recombination (HR)-mediated repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs). Here we report that MCM8-9 is required for DNA resection by MRN (MRE11-RAD50-NBS1) at DSBs to generate ssDNA. MCM8-9 interacts with MRN and is required for the nuclease activity and stable association of MRN with DSBs. The ATPase motifs of MCM8-9 are required for recruitment of MRE11 to foci of DNA damage. Homozygous deletion of the MCM9 found in various cancers sensitizes a cancer cell line to interstrand-crosslinking (ICL) agents. A cancer-derived point mutation or an SNP on MCM8 associated with premature ovarian failure (POF) diminishes the functional activity of MCM8. Therefore, the MCM8-9 complex facilitates DNA resection by the MRN complex during HR repair, genetic or epigenetic inactivation of MCM8 or MCM9 are seen in human cancers, and genetic inactivation of MCM8 may be the basis of a POF syndrome

Discovery of High-Latitude CO in a HI Supershell in NGC 5775

We report the discovery of very high latitude molecular gas in the edge-on spiral galaxy, NGC 5775. Emission from both the J=1-0 and 2-1 lines of 12CO is detected up to 4.8 kpc away from the mid-plane of the galaxy. NGC 5775 is known to host a number of HI supershells. The association of the molecular gas M(H2,F2) = 3.1x10^7 solar masses reported here with one of the HI supershells (labeled F2) is clear, which suggests that molecular gas may have survived the process which originally formed the supershell. Alternatively, part of the gas could have been formed in situ at high latitude from shock-compression of pre-existing HI gas. The CO J=2-1/J=1-0 line ratio of 0.34+-40% is significantly lower than unity, which suggests that the gas is excited subthermally, with gas density a few times 100 cubic cm. The molecular gas is likely in the form of cloudlets which are confined by magnetic and cosmic rays pressure. The potential energy of the gas at high latitude is found to be 2x10^56 ergs and the total (HI + H2) kinetic energy is 9x10^53 ergs. Based on the energetics of the supershell, we suggest that most of the energy in the supershell is in the form of potential energy and that the supershell is on the verge of falling and returning the gas to the disk of the galaxy.Comment: Accept by ApJL, 4 pages, 3 ps figure

FLIP (Flice-like inhibitory protein) suppresses cytoplasmic double-stranded-RNA-induced apoptosis and NF-κB and IRF3-mediated signaling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cytoplasmic viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is detected by a class of ubiquitous cytoplasmic RNA helicases, retinoic acid inducible gene-I (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation antigen-5 (MDA5), which initiate a signaling cascade via their common adaptor called interferon-β (IFN-β) promoter stimulator-1 (IPS-1). This leads to the production of proinflammatory and antiviral cytokines, the type I Interferons, via mainly nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and interferon response factor-3 (IRF3) transcription factors. Fas-associated death domain (FADD) protein, receptor-interacting protein (RIP1), caspase-8 and tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR)-associated death domain (TRADD) protein, all traditionally associated with death receptor signaling, are also involved in RIG-I/MDA5 signaling pathway. We previously showed that FLIP (Flice-like inhibitory protein), also designated as <it>cflar </it>(CASP8 and FADD-like apoptosis regulator), negatively regulates lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling in endothelial cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and protected against TLR4-mediated apoptosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we investigated the role of FLIP in cellular response to cytoplasmic polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, poly(I:C), a synthetic analog of dsRNA. <it>C</it>onsistent with the previously described role of FADD in RIG-I/MDA5-mediated apoptosis, we found that FLIP^-/-MEFs were more susceptible to killing by cytoplasmic poly(I:C). However, FLIP^-/-MEFs also exhibited markedly increased expression of NF-κB-and IRF3- dependent genes in response to cytoplasmic poly(I:C). Importantly, reconstitution of FLIP in FLIP^-/-MEFs reversed the hyper-activation of IRF3- and NF-κB-mediated gene expression. Further, we found that caspase-8 catalytic activity was not required for cytoplasmic poly(I:C)-mediated NF-κB and IRF3 signaling.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results provide evidence for a crucial dual role for FLIP in antiviral responses to cytoplasmic dsRNA: it protects from cytoplasmic dsRNA-mediated cell death while down-regulating IRF3-and NF-κB-mediated gene expression. Since the pathogenesis of several viral infections involves a heightened and dysregulated cytokine response, a possible therapy could involve modulating FLIP levels.</p

The Leiodolide B Puzzle

Out of options? Even though a systematic approach was chosen, which led to a set of four diastereomeric macrolides modeled around the proposed structure of leiodolide B (see picture), the puzzle concerning the stereostructure of this cytotoxic metabolite derived from a deep-sea sponge still remains unsolved